What we love…

easily scale up or down recipes to make them for your family; ability to keep recipes in a database so that you can easily find them

What we’d love to see…

ability to categorize recipes by difficulty

Summary

My favorite cooking app – makes sizing up and down recipes easy! I also love how easy it is to keep track of all of my favorites!

Our Rating

Recipe Manager with Serving Sizer for the iPad by Creative Algorithms, LLC takes the guesswork out of changing your recipes depending on the number of people you are feeding. It makes keeping track of your favorite recipes easy! A little bit of background of the developers, they are a husband and wife team. Cory, does all the programming and Justine, does designs and graphics. To learn more about the design of this app, Justine’s blog post provides great background. This app allows you to copy your recipes into a database where they are all easy to find and re-size as necessary. Once you have entered the recipe, you can change the serving size and the entire recipe is converted to the number of people you need to serve. We have a CSA and have collected some great recipes over the years. I used to keep everything in a 3 ring notebook but struggled to keep it clean – and I was always finding new recipes which needed to be shrunken or made bigger depending on the number of people I was feeding.

I used this app on Thanksgiving and found it was very useful in sizing recipes down for my family, plus taking photos of the various creations was wonderful so I can pull up a recipe card and see what it is that I made via a photo. I also liked the ability to snag recipes from various websites and copy them into the recipe cards giving me the ability to try them before entering each of the ingredients onto the card. I also liked the ability to email the various recipes to friends and family. You can add recipes directly from the web using a built in browser as well as paste from the clipboard. One of my favorite features is the ability to easily import recipes that I have collected from various places into the app making it a one stop shop. A number of ingredients are pre-populated making it easier to pick ingredients as well as the amount of each that you need. I also love that when the app scales it automatically converts them to a proper measurement instead of 12 tablespoons it converts to 3/4 cup.

In terms of enhancements, I wish there were a way to categorize recipes in terms of difficulty. My son is learning to cook with me and will often look at the recipe database. I hate telling him a recipe is too hard – so sometimes we wing it.

This app is ideal for anyone who has a large collection of cookbooks, with favorites in each since you can find the recipe you are looking for in one easy location. It also works well during the holidays when recipes need to be doubled or tripled and during parties where you can size up a standard recipe to feed a crowd of people. Creative Algorithms, LLC is part of the Moms with Apps collaborative focusing on family friendly apps. The app now includes an in app purchase capability where you can purchase specially designed cards including fall and holiday themed.

Customize recipes for families, couples, large or small groups. This app does what a regular cookbook can't--instantly scales all ingredients based on number of guests coming to dinner!● Also converts.

Bringing the iconic character to life in the real world for the very first time.

New York – September 19, 2017 – Touch Press today launched My Very Hungry Caterpillar AR, specifically designed for iPhone and iPad.* The app was developed with ARKit, a new framework that allows developers to easily create unparalleled augmented reality experiences for iPhone and iPad. By blending digital objects and information with the environment around you, ARKit takes apps beyond the screen, freeing them to interact with the real world in entirely new ways.

Touch Press is excited to bring this unique experience to the millions of My Very Hungry Caterpillar fans around the world.

Barry O’Neill, CEO of Touch Press, described how children who had played with the all new AR app had “expressed themselves – and expressed wonder” at the vibrant life-like caterpillar which appeared to be right in front of them, sliding across the floor in search of food. “Children believe in magical, invisible things. With ARKit we’ve been able to develop an app that gives them a lens to reveal, and interact with this magical, invisible world”, he added.

Eric Carle’s much-loved character, The Very Hungry Caterpillar™, has won the hearts of millions of children globally for almost 50 years. In 2014, in partnership with Eric Carle, StoryToys (part of Touch Press) brought the world’s favorite caterpillar to life for the very first time in the stunning interactive My Very Hungry Caterpillar app. To date 4.6 Million users have cared for their digital pet, feeding their caterpillar and watching it grow into a beautiful butterfly. More information and facts available here.

With ARKit, users can now interact with the caterpillar in a real world environment. Not only do children learn about the lifecycle of the caterpillar / butterfly, but they also develop empathy and responsibility as well as visuospatial skills. The app can spark conversation, as children who have played it have talked amongst themselves and to the adults in the room.

The My Very Hungry Caterpillar AR app is available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store for just $2.99.

About Touch Press Inc.

Headquartered in New York, Touch Press Inc. integrates the award-winning portfolios of three leading app developers to form a digital education and publishing powerhouse for the Touch Generation. More information available here: https://www.touchpress.com/

About StoryToys

Dublin, Ireland based StoryToys (A subsidiary of Touch Press Inc.) creates and publishes highly innovative and entertaining software for children including interactive books and games and has enjoyed global success on all major app distribution platforms. StoryToys has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations for the quality of its products, including many prestigious Children’s Technology Review Editor’s Choice Awards and the BolognaRagazzi Digital Award. More information available here: http://storytoys.com.

About The World Of Eric Carle™

The World of Eric Carle™ is a design-driven licensing and merchandising program based on the beloved picture books created by Eric Carle. A prolific author and artist, Eric Carle has written and illustrated more than seventy books which have sold over 127 million copies worldwide. Like his books, The World of Eric Carle brand draws upon Eric Carle’s approach to creativity, discovery, play and development. Licensing and merchandising programs are ongoing in the US, Japan, UK, Australia and Europe. More information available here: www.Facebook.com/theworldofEricCarle

My Very Hungry Caterpillar
by StoryToys Entertainment Limited

Price: $1.99 USD

Care for your very own Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Eric Carle’s much-loved character, The Very Hungry Caterpillar™, has won the hearts of millions of children around the world for more than 45.

Kids learn best through play and explaining what they are seeing and doing. Recently, every time I turn on the television news or tune in to the local radio, I am prompted things that I know I do not want my child to see or things that I might consider to be scary for them. Research has shown that children learn best through play — and playing out situations via role play can help them to better process and understand them. With the recent Hurricane Harvey here in the United States – there has been a lot of news on the television and radio that is overwhelming. As such, I started thinking about some of my favorite apps that would help kids in these situations. Helping children process traumatic events they seen in the news such as the recent Hurricane Harvey and other frightening news, can be overwhelming. Many children learn better with play therapy. Below are a few apps that involve role play, social stories and more to help them process difficult situations as well as explore new situations. Below is a list of some of my favorites.

Kids learn differently than adults. Introducing a new situation can be hard. One of the biggest things I struggle with as a parent is helping my kids understand a new situation. Helping my kids prepare for new experiences can be overwhelming as. One of my favorite thing about the MyPlayhome apps is that there are no rules – kids can play and role play while narrating what they are doing. I love to see all the different games that my toddler comes up with or see my son talking about an upcoming doctors appointment using MyPlayhome Hospital. Using Social Stories like Kid in the Storybook maker can help kids better understand a new situation. Dr. Panda has a series of role play apps including firefighters, daycare, school bus and more. .

Shimon Young is a genius. Shimon is the developer of the universal My PlayHome app and has managed to find a way to keep my iToddler (2.5) entertained for more than just a few minutes. Not an easy task. My PlayHome brings the dollhouse into the digital age by offering an entire virtual home, complete with an adorable family of five that kids can explore and interact with. Also available on the iPhone (Pocket PlayHome!), this app features beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and realistic sounds associated with each interaction. My PlayHome also has a simple user interface very easy for little fingers to control. This app caters for 2-8 year olds which is appropriate as it’s simple enough for the younger users to play with yet detailed enough to keep the older kids entertained too.” Quite a comprehensive app but still very easy to use by its intended audience. One of the best kids apps I have come across on the App Store!” This continues to be a top pick of The iMums for kids of all ages. Read the full review.

When iMum Amanda reviewed the original My PlayHome back in 2011 she described it’s creator Shimon Young as a genius, and I have to agree. After being installed on our iPads for 2 1/2 years my kids still play with My PlayHome regularly, and there are very few apps that retain their appeal long term like that. So when I told my children there was a new My PlayHome app out, to say they were excited is a definite understatement. My PlayHome brings the dolls house into the digital age with an entire interactive house and garden to play in, and My PlayHome Stores expands the play by adding four shops to explore and shop in. The app stars the same characters as the original app – there are 3 moms, 3 dads, 3 girls, 3 boys and 3 babies from a variety of ethnicities and you can mix and match them any way you like to create the family in the app. The twist that my children really love (and that I have not seen in any other app) is when the family go shopping in the stores they can walk home with their purchases, and if you own My PlayHome they can take their purchases from the stores back to their home. Read the full review.

In the fantastic tradition of the Playhome Software Company, comes the latest My Playhome app, My Playhome Hospital. Fully integrated with the other My Playhome apps (Home, School and Store), this new app allows the player to explore all aspects of the hospital experience. When the app is opened, the child is faced with the view of the hospital and an ambulance. No settings tab, no external options, and no parental tab. The only extra button to press is the Tidy the Hospital wheel, which is a great option. It allows the player to actually erase the previous designs created and start fresh. The home page ambulance can be driven to the school, home or store; linking the other apps (one of my favorite features). An interactive app that familiarizes children with the workings and people in the hospital setting. Multiple different scenes with many opportunities to interact with the objects and characters on each page.

One of the best loved toys of all time are doll houses. It brings hours upon hours of enjoyment to boys and girls alike, and it’s only limitation is a child’s imagination. My PlayHome Software Ltd has brought this enjoyment in the most portable form possible in My PlayHome, My PlayHome Stores, and very recently, My PlayHome School. While my children and I enjoyed My PlayHome and My PlayHome Stores, My PlayHome School far exceeded our expectations. It has almost everything you could find in an elementary school: a receptionist desk, the principal’s office, a cafeteria, boys and girls restrooms, a science lab, an auditorium, a janitor’s closet, lockers, and of course, classrooms. Read the full review.

Explaining difficult situations to kids or helping them understand something new is the premise of Kid in the Storybook maker. This app allows you to take photos of an upcoming event — be it a doctors appointment, new school or even a vacation and use your own words, photos and voice to describe it to the reader. I loved using Bluebee Pals with my son when we recently did a social story about his new school.

Enuma, designs assistance and play-based learning apps to empower kids to be independent learners. they have a special interest in producing apps for children with special needs. LocoMotive Labs is located in Berkeley, California and was founded in 2012, its design team includes many of the team who produced the Injini child development suite. Kid in Story was designed to help parents and therapists easily produce their own stories for children. As children with Autism often respond well to social stories that include them, they wanted to include a way to easily add the child into the story. Read our full review.

What we love…

An effortless approach to learning the times tables using fun stories.

What we’d love to see…

Include the narrative text in the stories and a story quiz in the training mode to help students better recall the details of the stories before attempting the multiplication questions to ensure greater success.

Summary

Mathemagics Multiplication offers an unconventional but effective story mnemonics technique for memorizing the times tables of 1 to 10.

Our Rating

How do children learn the multiplication tables? First, they learn how to multiply, then they need to memorize the multiplication tables so that they can quickly solve math problems. This usually means lots of practice through boring drills and repetitive exercises. But what if we present you with an approach that can help speed up the memorization process while being fun at the same time? Will you give it a try even if the approach is unconventional or untested?

Mathemagics Multiplication by SlimCricket is a new app that aims to help students memorize the multiplication tables in a whole new way using stories. While memory techniques using songs and stories are not new, it is still uncommon to have students use stories in memorizing the times tables.

But even if you are skeptical, it’s still worth your time to download Mathemagics Multiplication’s free lite version app to read the parents’ guide and let your child have a go at the trial.

Before getting to the stories, students are introduced to the characters in the stories. These are actually the numbers 1 to 10, each with its own name and a personality that helps define how they interact with other characters (numbers). The first section of the app ‘I discover’ is devoted to this character association using a character quiz. This is easy as each character is shaped like its number counterpart.

Once the student has successfully completed the quiz for a character, he can then proceed to watch the multiplication stories for that number in the ‘I learn’ section. Each story is a short cartoon animation and works on the child’s visual memory of what the story is about. There is no explanation for how the times table work, students just need to watch and learn the story. The unique stories help students to form a memorable association between the characters/numbers in a multiplication fact so that when they see the numbers, they remember the stories and then the multiplication facts that they represent.

What I like in this section is the ’trick’ to help students remember only half of the tables. Your child (or even yourself) may not be aware of this because this is often not highlighted. This trick works well in this app because students don’t need to work through each table by repeatedly adding the same number. They just need to learn the stories and the stories for half of the tables are the same, for example the story for 2 X 4 is the same as that for 4 X 2.

After the students have gone through all the stories from a times table, they can then move on to the levelled exercises in the ‘I play’ section where their memory of the stories is tested. Here, they can choose between the training or game mode, the difference is that points for correct answers are only given in the game mode. The multiplication questions in the ‘I play’ section are first presented in the form of the characters and then the mnemonics are gradually phased out as the students progress.

After completing the tests in the ‘I play’ section, students can go on to do even more practice in “My challenges’ and earn rewards. Besides the mnemonic training, this app packs in lots of levelled quizzes and challenges to help your child master their times tables in the shortest time possible.

To keep students motivated to complete more quizzes and challenges, points collected from the game mode can be used to buy a house and the furniture for each character in ‘My rewards’ section.

For parents and teachers, you can track up to 3 students’ progress in the full version app ($4.99) while the school version app ($7.99) allows you to create up to 40 profiles.

For children, memorizing a silly story is definitely easier than a multiplication fact. This app takes advantage of children’s innate ability to retain information that has been presented to them visually. It does not take away the importance of understanding the concept of multiplication. It just provides students with a quick and easy way to memorize the tables which in turn speeds up problem solving and reduce frustrations.

You may not be comfortable with this non-traditional method of mastering the times tables, but do keep an open mind and let your child try it out. The free trial version of the app allows your child to learn some of multiplication facts from the 4 times table. My youngest hasn’t gone through all the stories yet but for those that he did, he gave faster and more accurate answers after using the app. This app is definitely worth a try and you may be surprised at how well it works for your child.

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Meet the iMums

The iMums - Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace - are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to informing parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways! Read more.

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